


A Cold Case Part One

by rowdy_tanner



Series: The Sword of Damocles Series. [1]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 09:49:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6799006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowdy_tanner/pseuds/rowdy_tanner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Sword of Damocles Series. A Modern Day AU (Pre-The ATF AU created by the marvelous Mog). When Sarah Connolly first sees Chris Larabee it is love and murder at first sight. Can Sarah's best friends, Vin Tanner and Buck Wilmington, join with Nathan Jackson and persuade Josiah Sanchez, Ezra Standish to work alongside J. D. Dunne in order to give true love a helping hand?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Cold Case Part One

_The Sword of Damocles Series_

_To show him how precarious this happiness was, Dionysius seated him at a banquet with a sword hung by a single hair over his head._

**A Cold Case**

**Disclaimer:** The boys are the property of MGM, Mirisch, and Trilogy Entertainment. I do not own them or make money from them but if I did own them I promise that I would share.

**Characters:** Focus, Sarah Connolly, Chris Larabee, Vin Tanner. Includes, Buck Wilmington, Nathan Jackson, Mary Travis, Josiah Sanchez, Ezra Standish, J. D. Dunne and Ella Gaines. **OCs** , Admiral Woodrow C. Larabee, Ginger Larabee

**Summary:** The Sword of Damocles Series. A Modern Day AU (Pre-The ATF AU created by the marvelous Mog). When Sarah Connolly first sees Chris Larabee it is love and murder at first sight. Can Sarah's best friends, Vin Tanner and Buck Wilmington, join with Nathan Jackson and persuade Josiah Sanchez, Ezra Standish to work alongside J. D. Dunne in order to give true love a helping hand?

**Warning:** The "Admiral" is NOT a warm and fuzzy character. He is both intentionally rude and offensively misogynistic. As Amber would say, he isn't entirely useless he can always serve as a bad example. His outmoded attitudes are no reflection on the US Navy nor are the comments that pass between Buck and Vin.

**Credits:** Suggested song lyrics and T-shirt wrangling - Amber Drabble. Vital feedback and cheerleading - Mary Travis-Larabee

 

 

> **Chapter 1**
> 
>  

>  
>
>> "I'm Detective Connolly. How may I help you?"
>
>> Police Detective Sarah Connolly took off her jacket and draped it over the back of her chair. Then took a seat and across the plain metal desk smiled briefly at the plump but attractive lady opposite. Although today the office was empty of any other detectives Sarah often got handed these types of cases as a matter of routine. The kind that lead nowhere but the person just needed a shoulder to cry on.
>
>> "I don't know where to start," said the lady, looking flustered. "It's so unbelievable even to me."
>
>> "Okay, let's start with your name."
>
>> "Hildegarde Petrie. Please, call me Hilde."
>
>> Sarah nodded and made a note of the name in her notebook. "Now, Hilde, what made you come here today?"
>
>> "I still don't know where to begin," panicked Hilde.
>
>> "Start at the beginning. I've plenty of time to listen, Hilde." This wasn't true, she had a stack of reports waiting in her in-tray but over the years she'd found this to be the quickest way of getting a concise account from a witness.
>
>> "I lived out at the Petrie Ranch with my Uncle Joseph almost all my life. He and his wife, Ella Gaines, hadn't been back from honeymooning in Hawaii all that long when he took sick. He got weaker and weaker, eventually taking to his bed. Ella, she nursed him day and night. Cooked him special food and made sure he got plenty of rest. Even changed his doctor but a year ago he passed away."
>
>> "I'm sorry for your loss, Hilde. Do you have a cause of death?"
>
>> "Both doctors said it was a syndrome. Some French sounding name, hyphenated I think."
>
>> "So it was natural causes? On the say so of two different doctors?"
>
>> "Well, yes. I suppose so."
>
>> "Hilde, you do know what we do here?" asked Sarah, softly.
>
>> "You look into old murders."
>
>> "We re-open old murder cases that have remained unsolved and apply new investigative techniques to them that weren't available back in the day. This is a case of natural causes, Hilde, not a murder."
>
>> "Yes, I see. It was after the funeral that things got well, suspicious."
>
>> "Suspicious?"
>
>> Hilde looked across the desk at the pretty red-haired detective with the very big gun under her arm. Taking confidence from the encouraging look in the steady blue eyes she took a deep breath and continued.
>
>> "My Uncle Joseph was a kind man and everyone liked him. He always put his family first so when Ella told us that according to the will he had left her everything, lock, stock and barrel, we asked to see it for ourselves. It seemed so wrong that Uncle Joseph hadn't done as he'd always promised and left me and my other cousin a little money. That was the first time we saw Ella's mask slip. She was furious. Still, she called the lawyer up to the ranch house. That was another surprise."
>
>> "Surprise?"
>
>> "It wasn't the old family lawyer it was this new man, Jack Averal. He showed us the will. There was nothing we could do but accept it. Then ten months ago she asked me to take my cousin and leave the ranch. She told me that she was getting married to the new ranch foreman, Chris Larabee."
>
>> Sarah made a few more notes and keyed a few details into the computer. The search program provided a wedding photograph from a local newspaper. Chris Larabee was just about the best looking man Sarah had ever seen.
>
>> "Which was strange as he'd only been working there a few days. He got the job after the old foreman just disappeared."
>
>> "Disappeared?"
>
>> "Yes, one night he was there checking the stock as usual the next day he was gone."
>
>> "So you left?"
>
>> "I didn't want to leave my cousin behind and I told Ella it would take time for me to find somewhere new for us both to live but Ella was adamant we both go. When I stood my ground she practically threw me out."
>
>> "What did you do for money?"
>
>> "I had a little money in the bank saved from the monthly allowance Uncle Joseph used to give us. He was a generous man."
>
>> "A wealthy man?"
>
>> "Very. I didn't want to be far from my cousin so I took a job as housekeeper on a adjacent ranch while I looked for somewhere to rent big enough for us both and for me to be able to give music lessons. Once I'd left Ella was all sweetness and light. Telling me to take my time and that she'd gladly look after my cousin. It was all a show she put on for Chris Larabee. I was even invited back for the wedding. Then my cousin was murdered."
>
>> "Murdered?"
>
>> "Officially the Police Department said it was a hit-and-run."
>
>> "Wait, I'll go check if we have the report."
>
>> Nervously, Hilde waited. Convinced that if Ella knew that she was here she'd disappear the same as the old ranch foreman or worse.
>
>> Sarah needed air. Her heart racing as she thought about the man in the wedding photograph. Hell, girl, you've been on your own far too long, she admonished herself, you need to get laid. He could be up to his gorgeous blond neck in this. If there was any real crime here at all. She sent a few text messages from her phone, got coffee from the machine and thought about the man in the wedding photograph again and those challenging green eyes.
>
>> Sarah returned with coffee for two and a printout of the police report. "A hit-and-run out on the highway. Maybe twenty miles from the Larabee ranch. Is that the ranch your Uncle Joseph Petrie left the now Mrs. Larabee?"
>
>> "Yes. She changed the name of the ranch even before she and Chris Larabee were married."
>
>> "There's nothing in the report to connect the accident to anyone at the Larabee ranch. Paint flakes found on the body were from a red 60's Mustang. No one at the ranch has a car matching that description registered to them. In fact we only found one in the whole area. The driver is known to us and he has a cast iron alibi. I'm sorry but it was just an unfortunate accident. The driver didn't stop so he might face criminal charges, vehicular manslaughter---"
>
>> "Detective Connolly, my cousin. . .had learning difficulties," interrupted Hilde, gulping down her coffee. "She never left the ranch house except to sit on the porch or to be driven to doctor appointments. If my cousin was out on the highway twenty miles from the ranch then someone put her in a car, drove her out there and then left her. Someone she knew. A person she trusted who probably told her that they were going to visit the doctor office."
>
>> "She could have wandered off from the ranch house," suggested Sarah, opening her desk drawer and offering Hilde a monster size homemade chocolate chip cookie to make up for the awful swill the PD insisted was coffee.
>
>> "Twenty miles? No, this was murder. The ranch, the money, it never meant anything to me and the fact that Uncle Joseph was an old man made me close my eyes to Ella's murderous ways. But this. . .no, she mustn't be allowed to get away with this."
>
>> "Even if we could find out who drove her, at best maybe they'd face charges of reckless endangerment."
>
>> "It was murder. I told the police at the time. I begged them to arrest Ella but they said it was a routine hit-and-run case. Routine!"
>
>> Sarah flicked through the report again thinking about the towering stack of cases waiting for her attention. "Leave it with me," she said, picturing Chris Larabee's long lean silhouette in her head.
>
>> **Chapter 2**
>
>> The guys from the SWAT Team all hung out in the same downtown bar. Everyone of them a gun expert but not one of them trigger happy. Their Team Leader would never have allowed someone like that within a mile of his Team which was just one of the character traits that made him the best. Catcalls and wolf whistles followed her progress across the bar room floor until their leader, Sgt. Vin Tanner, looked up from his beer and silenced them all with a raised eyebrow.
>
>> "Hi, Sarah. Pull up a chair. Drink?"
>
>> "Thanks, I need one!"
>
>> "Let me get that, darling. What would you like? a cosmopolitan?" asked a member of Vin's Team who looked like he ate linebackers for breakfast.
>
>> "Simmer down, Bailey, you've been watching too many _Sex and the City_ reruns again ain't ya? Does it look the kinda place that has Cointreau? Get Detective Connolly her usual, a tequila shot and a beer chaser."
>
>> Bailey scurried off to the bar and returning with the drinks earned himself a dazzling smile that knocked him sideways. Vin grinned as another man fell prey to Sarah's undeniable sex appeal.
>
>> "Another one bites the dust," he whispered.
>
>> As Bailey hovered in his seat nearby just hoping that she'd want another drink or a bowl of peanuts, a ride home or a condo in the Bahamas. A faint blush dusted her cheeks as Vin winked at her. That was the key to her allure, she had no idea that she had any. She still saw herself as a tomboy fresh off a farm in the back end of nowhere. They'd met as rookies at the Police Academy and she'd helped Vin when his poor reading skills had made studying difficult.
>
>> Vin was certain that he'd be dead from an overdose of junk food if it wasn't for Sarah's weekly invitation to a Sunday dinner of chicken and dumplings. While acknowledging that she had an ass that could stop traffic their relationship wasn't a romantic one. He genuinely loved her like she was his little sister. Quietly keeping any undesirable males at bay.
>
>> "You still got that old red Mustang?" asked Sarah.
>
>> "Yeah, sure do. Why? Want to go cruising on Saturday night? Do a little necking in the moonlight?" laughed Vin.
>
>> "If you ever got a woman in that rust bucket it would blow a gasket with shock." Sarah loved it when Vin dared to flirt with her. He rarely dated. She guessed that it didn't help that she often found herself being too overprotective. Effectively scaring off anyone she didn't think was good enough for him. Although he was a few years older than she was, having served in the Rangers before applying to the Police Academy, she thought of him as the kid brother she never had. Any woman wanting to break Vin Tanner's heart would have to go through Sarah first. "That hit-and-run case resurfaced again today. Seems it may have been a murder after all."
>
>> "Yeah? Did you get our new medical examiner, Nathan Jackson, to look the file over?"
>
>> "It was too late in my shift to get down to his office with the autopsy report. I'm seeing him first thing in the morning."
>
>> "You do know that I alibied out?" grinned Vin.
>
>> "You were blushing bright red and mumbling your thanks down at Police Headquarters. Picking up yet another commendation from the top brass in front of a camera crew and the press," she said with a mock yawn. "I just wondered if you'd come across another Mustang since then? Maybe in the same junkyard where you found yours."
>
>> "What part of 'American Classic' don't you get?"
>
>> She rolled her eyes. "I take it that's a no?"
>
>> "Woulda been straight on the phone iffen I had."
>
>> "Yeah, I know but I had to ask," she said and this time the yawn was real.
>
>> "I've only had half my beer I'll drive you home. I just gotta make a quick call first."
>
>> She waited at the table trying not to catch Bailey's eye as Vin headed for the men's room. Poor Bailey, if he'd hit on her before today he might have had a chance of a date but now she couldn't get Chris Larabee out of her head.
>
>> "Buck? Put that girl down and pick up your phone." Tanner hated answering machines at the best of times and loathed using his cellphone in the men's room, somehow it felt seedy.
>
>> "Your timing is the worst, Tanner," panted Buck Wilmington, clearly not alone in the bedroom of his apartment.
>
>> "It's about our girl."
>
>> "Is she okay?" barked Buck.
>
>> Tanner now had the full attention of Sarah's boss. "Gonna need you to watch her back on this one, Bucklin."
>
>> "The hit-and-run case?" asked Buck, revealing how much of a close eye he already kept on Sarah's caseload. Hers was the first transfer to the Cold Case Team he had asked for when setting up his new squad. He'd first noticed her as a rookie officer and tracked her career with interest. Recommending her for promotion and later requesting her as a partner. They'd worked well together.
>
>> "I just have a gut feeling this case has more to it than a hit-and-run. Sarah seems. . .distracted by some element of the case and that's not like her."
>
>> "Knowing Sarah she'll have already typed up her notes before leaving the office. I'll get in early tomorrow and take a look at them for myself. Thanks for the heads up, Ranger."
>
>> "Keep me in the loop, squid," said Tanner.
>
>> "Tanner!" but Vin had already disconnected the call.
>
>> Feeling relieved to know that Sarah had an ex-Navy SEAL watching her back Tanner swung by his table and together he and Sarah headed out to the parking lot. In his opinion Sarah didn't usually need anyone holding her hand on the job. She was one of the best detectives he'd ever known, maybe _the_ best, more than capable of taking down a heavily armed suspect alone. A crack-shot on the police range and hell on wheels in the gym.
>
>> Her only fault, if it could be considered one, was her big heart. The girl had a bucket load of compassion for the victims she dealt with and if the case concerned a child she often let it lead her into trouble. Officially, there were no black marks in her police department jacket but unofficially she had been on the carpet more than once for being 'over zealous'. Tanner dropped her off at her apartment with a wry smile. If a murderer had deliberately targeted a girl with learning difficulties then they could be the one needing protecting from Sarah.
>
>> *******
>
>> The medical examiner, Nathan Jackson, liked to get into the office early but Detective Connolly was already waiting outside the locked door of the building. She made coffee and opened a box of her homemade chocolate orange cupcakes while he flicked through the report. The cupcakes were both a bribe and how she unwound of an evening. Her baking was famous throughout the Police Department and the ME was putty in her hands at the mere sight of a cupcake.
>
>> "My predecessor was sloppy in his later years but this evidence seems consistent with a hit-and-run."
>
>> "She was on the opposite side of the highway to the ranch. I think she was trying to get home after someone dumped her there knowing she had little or no road sense. I think they waited for her to step out into the road. Maybe on recognizing the driver she was even running towards the car expecting them to pick her up and take her home."
>
>> "Have you got the crime scene report?"
>
>> "Yeah, no skid marks, the driver never applied the brakes."
>
>> "What else have you got?"
>
>> "Copies of Joseph Petrie's medical records. In spite of what Miss Hilde Petrie thought to the contrary, the detectives on the original case did take her seriously enough to get a search warrant. I spoke to them both this morning and they told me that they had come to believe that Hilde was right to be suspicious but had no hard evidence."
>
>> An unsurprised Nathan smiled, betting that the two cops had been rousted out of bed at the crack of dawn by Sarah's phone calls, Sarah was painstakingly thorough.
>
>> "The Guillain-Barré syndrome?"
>
>> "Two doctors diagnosed it."
>
>> "No. One doctor discounted it after having Mr. Petrie hospitalized for further tests."
>
>> "Where does it say that?" asked Sarah.
>
>> "It doesn't actually spell it out here but the first doctor altered Joseph Petrie's medication radically just before Joseph's wife found her husband another doctor. You'd need to be a doctor to spot and understand the reason for the change in medication. Even Sherlock Holmes would have missed that," explained Nathan in his deep warm voice.
>
>> "What meds did the second doctor put him on?"
>
>> "He re-prescribed the original medication and carried on treating Mr. Petrie for Guillain-Barré syndrome. Look let me make a few calls for you now that the rest of the medical profession is awake. Call back in a few hours."
>
>> "Can I use your lab computer while I wait? Guillain-Barré syndrome rings a vague alarm bell."
>
>> Chuckling, Nathan Jackson grabbed another cupcake and escaped to his own office.
>
>> *******
>
>> Nathan Jackson wasn't laughing when he returned to a waiting Sarah Connolly.
>
>> "It was murder!" they said in unison.
>
>> "Go ahead," said Sarah.
>
>> "I phoned Doctor Everett, Joseph Petrie's original doctor, he told me that he had initially diagnosed Guillain-Barré syndrome but after having Mr. Petrie admitted to hospital in a state of collapse the patient's symptoms rapidly diminished. This worried him so he ordered a battery of tests in order to confirm his diagnosis. In fact Mr. Petrie had almost completely recovered by the time all the results from the tests were available. He urgently forwarded the test results to Mr. Petrie's new doctor."
>
>> "Test results that indicated high levels of arsenic in Mr. Petrie's system."
>
>> "How did you know that?"
>
>> "The internet can be a wonderful tool."
>
>> "Yes. He presumed Petrie was coming into contact with arsenic on the ranch, maybe from old pesticides and that his new doctor would advise his patient to have the ranch foreman clean-up the place. But I think Mr. Petrie was being fed arsenic in ever increasing doses because when he was put on a strict diet at the hospital he began to recover. You see I did some further checking on his second doctor---"
>
>> "And found out that his credentials were fake. He's no more a doctor than I am."
>
>> "Don't tell me, the internet can be a wonderful tool."
>
>> "Yes."
>
>> "So now all you have to do is reopen the case and prove all this."
>
>> "All I have to do?" asked Sarah with a grim smile. "I have to prove that Ella Gaines-Petrie-Larabee murdered at least two people _and_ that she and this Jack Averal altered the will. I need to find a red Mustang, a witness that will swear they saw Ella Gaines put arsenic in Joseph's food and a document expert that knows a forged will when he sees it."
>
>> "A tall order," agreed Nathan, guzzling another cupcake.
>
>> "That's like taking candy from a baby. Persuading Buck Wilmington to let me go undercover out at the Larabee ranch is the Mission Impossible part."
>
>> **Chapter 3**
>
>> "No."
>
>> Buck Wilmington was calm and his tone infuriatingly reasonable, Sarah wanted to pull her gun and pistol-whip some sense into him. She moved to close the door to Buck's office but Vin Tanner was already halfway through it.
>
>> "Call for backup did you?" sneered Sarah, looking back over her shoulder at Buck.
>
>> "Damn right I did." After getting in to the office at the crack of dawn Buck had perused Sarah's notes and anticipating Sarah's request to go undercover he'd got on the phone to Vin Tanner.
>
>> Sarah looked surprised at Buck's admission. She glanced over at Vin who had taken up a position where he had a filing cabinet to lean on and a full view of the room and dropped her files on Buck's desk.
>
>> "Look, this isn't really considered a cold case so kick it back to homicide," ordered Buck, already knowing that his futile words would fall on deaf ears.
>
>> Sarah took a deep breath. "This Gaines-Petrie woman planned all this too well for an amateur. I think that there are other, older, unsolved murders that we don't know about yet."
>
>> Buck sighed, resigned to defeat. "I will not agree to you going in on your own. The ranch is so isolated there probably are some areas with no cellphone coverage and this Ella Gaines sounds a devious bitch to say the least. We don't know if Chris Larabee is in on it or not---"
>
>> "He isn't!" remonstrated Sarah.
>
>> Buck and Vin looked at each other. So that was it, Sarah was in love with Chris Larabee.
>
>> Buck continued, "As I said we don't know if Chris Larabee is in on it or not---"
>
>> "He certainly isn't!" interrupted Sarah. "He was a Navy SEAL."
>
>> "He's _that_ Chris Larabee? The man is a legend." For a man that was never impressed Buck was clearly impressed.
>
>> "I ran a complete background check on him. He's Mr. Clean, the all American hero. I'm amazed that you can't buy comic books and little action figures of him."
>
>> "I bet you'd have the lunch box too," snickered Vin.
>
>> "Save your breath for inflating your blow-up girlfriend!" snapped Sarah, her fiery Irish temper coming to the fore. She wasn't a redhead for nothing and she was furious that her intimate feelings were so transparent to her two best friends. She felt like a lovesick teenager caught red-handed mooning over some Terminator-hunting movie star. What the hell had got into her?
>
>> "Sarah! Do I have to pull rank to make you listen to me?"
>
>> "No, Buck."
>
>> "Okay. First, go collect every single shred of evidence you have so far and go see ADA Travis. I wanna know exactly what we need to make this case watertight. Second, you and Vin are going undercover as a couple."
>
>> "We are? You agreed to this Vin?" Sarah couldn't hide her astonishment she knew that Vin hated to be more than a few yards away from his long gun at all times.
>
>> "When I agreed I thought I was going undercover with Buck but we couldn't agree on who got to wear a dress an' I'll be racking my hunting rifle in the back of the RV," winked Vin almost reading her mind.
>
>> "It's the busiest time of the year for a horse breeder. Larabee will be in need of an extra ranch hand so you two rolling up in your RV looking for casual work will be the answer to his prayers," explained Buck.
>
>> "He can easily check up on me. Worked a couple of ranches back in Texas when I was a kid. They'll vouch for me as a ranch hand. I even rodeoed some so you can be a rodeo bunny I picked up on the circuit. You'll need to dress like Daisy Duke," added Vin.
>
>> "Ha Ha! Do you even own any clothes other than those you are wearing? Having SWAT plastered on every single thing you wear might be a giveaway," giggled Sarah, punching him on the arm.
>
>> "Hey, women are hot for men in Kevlar."
>
>> "What color is the sky on your planet, Tanner?" laughed Sarah.
>
>> "I got jeans and cowboy boots. Even gotta hat."
>
>> "Buffalo Bill rides again," groaned Sarah, gathering up her files.
>
>> *******
>
>> "Hell, at least she didn't say no," sighed a relieved Buck as Sarah left his office.
>
>> "Do you think she knows she's in love with this Larabee guy?"
>
>> "Will it be a problem on the job?"
>
>> "No, Sarah is a complete professional."
>
>> "You spend so much time over here on loan, when are you going to quit playing cowboys, take a promotion and join my department, Vin?"
>
>> "As soon as hell freezes over, Bucklin."
>
>> *******
>
>> Assistant District Attorney Mary Travis was now following in the footsteps of both her father-in-law and her husband. Quitting her successful law practice to raise her son, Billy, she had now returned to full-time work while little Billy attended school. Her mother-in-law, Evie Travis, was more than glad to mind her beloved grandson whenever Mary was tied up at the office. Mary had met and married Stephen Travis after leaving Harvard and now helped him share the burden of being the only son of Judge Orrin W. Travis.
>
>> Although well-respected, the fact that Judge Travis Senior had a collection of Wild West rifles hanging in his office provoked comparisons with his ancestor and namesake, a territorial judge in the Old West and led him to be regarded as a hanging judge in that he preferred to hand down the maximum sentence allowed. Judge Stephen Travis was the youngest judge in the state and everyone agreed that he was destined for far bigger things.
>
>> "This is good work, Sarah, as ever but we need that Mustang and a way to connect the Ella Gaines woman to it. We'll never prove that she was the one that poisoned Joseph Petrie. That is circumstantial at best. Others had access to his food. We'd need a confession in order to press that murder charge."
>
>> "Others had access but she was the only one with motive. She wanted his money and the ranch."
>
>> "Hildegarde Petrie's statement mentions a disappearing foreman," pointed out Mary, perusing the file again. She was keen to find something concrete they could use to make a solid case.
>
>> "Yes, an Al Lopez, so far I've been unable to track him down. His checking account has been dormant for quite a while now. Social Security has nothing recent on him which is odd because he hit retirement age a few months back."
>
>> "If Ella Gaines murdered the foreman too. . .she'd be on her way to being classed as a serial killer," mused Mary. "Have you ever worked with a criminal profiler before?"
>
>> "Yes, a few times."
>
>> "I'd like you work on a profile of the Gaines woman with Professor Josiah Sanchez."
>
>> "Sorry, Mary, I don't have time to be climbing halfway up a mountain and doing something weird like sitting in a Japanese garden staring at rocks for a week with a crazy holy man. Find me someone else to work with."
>
>> "Bake him some of your famous zucchini bread," ordered Mary.
>
>> "Okay, give me his number."
>
>> "He won't speak to you on the phone if he doesn't already know you."
>
>> "Then how?"
>
>> "Do you know the ME? Nathan Jackson?"
>
>> "Yes."
>
>> "Go ask him."
>
>> "Gee, you must think I'm made of cupcakes," grinned Sarah, giving Mary a high five on her way out.
>
>> **Chapter 4**
>
>> Professor Josiah Sanchez opened the glazed double doors and entered his spacious Japanese garden. Choosing to meditate on the domed rock slightly to the left of the bamboo deer scarer. Perfectly raked, gravelly sand encircled the rock, one of seven. Moss clung to one side of the rock. A mountain clothed in thick forest. A microcosm representing the macrocosm. As above so is below, meditated Josiah.
>
>> Josiah's face was more craggy than the rock itself. Deep lines of exhaustion fissured his face. The face of a man that had seen too much evil? or not enough good? Nothing surprised him anymore, except the things that people said and did. This last case. . .well. . .did he need to say anymore than that his publishers were offering him the moon for a manuscript? Hollywood was willing to offer the moon _and_ the stars for a screenplay. Anthony Hopkins was tipped to win the role of the brilliant criminal profiler who had captured the prolific "Bus Stop Killer". No doubt, according to the movie, singlehandedly. Which was an unwarranted poke in the eye for the dedicated squad of police officers that had tragically lost one of their own in the operation to arrest the serial killer.
>
>> At six foot one, Josiah snorted at the very idea of a short, Welsh, poor man's Richard Burton playing him but the Hollywood scuttlebutt was abuzz with the news that Nicholas Cage had already ordered several gray wigs. A shame that Sean Connery had retired, mused Josiah. Steve Buscemi was reportedly already cast in the role of the Bus Stop Killer. Although Josiah was sure that once the actor had actually read a script the part would go to some second rate British actor from a long canceled TV show. Even Anthony Perkins couldn't have been expected to do justice to this sick psycho.
>
>> The intercom buzzed irritatingly. Inside he walked back around his antique partners desk and sank into his leather button-backed chair to flick the switch.
>
>> Behind him the text books he had authored sat in a bookcase carved from a single slab of oak. Their restrained binding at odds with the garish, sensationalized, dust jackets of his three previous cases. Ghostwritten in part by another, they were still on the bestseller's list. TV and radio talk shows clamored for him to appear and the Press camped out on his office doorstep waiting for a soundbite.
>
>> "Inez?"
>
>> Inez Recillos had taken a job on the janitorial staff of his office building to pay her way through school. Noticing that he was a night owl she had left off cleaning his office until last. On realizing that she was regularly working unpaid overtime waiting for him to leave, he had invited her to sit down for coffee while he shut down his office computer and locked his briefcase. Soon he found himself getting ready to leave earlier and earlier so that he could enjoy their animated late-night conversations. He had offered her the full-time job as his live-in housekeeper only a few months later. That was a number of years ago. Now she was his indispensable factotum and he couldn't start to imagine the chaos his life would be without her. Personal secretary, chef, sounding board, she was working towards her degree in forensics while still serving him dinner on time every single night.
>
>> "I know that you said no phone calls under any circumstances but the Señor says that he knows you personally from the veterans hospital."
>
>> Inez had far too much savvy to disturb him for anyone spinning that old line unless she had sensed that the caller was genuine.
>
>> "Name?" groaned Josiah.
>
>> "Nathan Jackson ME."
>
>> "Put him through! Nathan? Nathan? Is that you?" asked Josiah, warmth flooding his voice.
>
>> "Josiah? It's powerful good to hear your voice!"
>
>> "Are you nearby?"
>
>> "No, truth be told I'm living in some little backwater community."
>
>> "On purpose?"
>
>> "Yeah," chuckled Nathan. "Fact is I thought you might like to join me."
>
>> "Nathan, after four serial killers in a row I'm too scared to close my eyes at night. I'm taking a long, much needed, sabbatical before I'm the one to crack-up. I'm not taking on another case so soon. I can give you the number of a good FBI profiler---"
>
>> "This is exactly the prescription you need."
>
>> "I need sun, sea, mai tais, lots of golf and then more golf."
>
>> "I can offer you sun, desert sand, a jug of moonshine and a collection of Wild West rifles and memorabilia second to none."
>
>> "A Wild West collection?"
>
>> "Now you're hooked!"
>
>> "How I do I get there?"
>
>> "Already sent one of the locals to pick you up. He'll be there by the time you're packed."
>
>> "He got wings?"
>
>> "You'll like him, Josiah. He's the living embodiment of what you see is NOT what you get."
>
>> "Say what?"
>
>> "Enjoy!"
>
>> There was a click and the line went dead.
>
>> He flicked the switch on the intercom again, "Inez?"
>
>> "We're already packed."
>
>> "We?"
>
>> "You'll need me at some point so I might as well travel with you."
>
>> "You're either psychic or you listen in on my phone calls, Inez."
>
>> "My crystal ball is in for repair."
>
>> The windows rattled noisily as sand and gravel hit them.
>
>> "What in the blue blazes . . .?" boomed Josiah.
>
>> The helicopter settled itself raptor-like on the very edge of the Japanese garden.
>
>> *******
>
>> As the rotors ceased turning, pounding rock music brutally assaulted Professor Sanchez's ears. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly indicated that the pilot had a sense of humor or was a stoner.
>
>> "Professor J'siah Sanchez?" rasped a voice as sandy as the garden and a shaggy head poked itself around a glazed door.
>
>> Cloudless blue eyes informed Josiah that the pilot wasn't stoned. "Did Doctor Nathan Jackson send you?" Josiah inquired.
>
>> "Nate," agreed the pilot, stepping inside Josiah's study and finding a convenient bookshelf to lean on.
>
>> "Are you my ride?"
>
>> "Señorita Recillos?" queried the pilot.
>
>> Josiah eyed the laconic young man in an olive drab t-shirt with "Army Ranger" printed on the front, followed by the words, "Mess With The Best Die Like The Rest" under a dark colored jacket with SWAT plastered on the back.
>
>> Inez entered the study carrying two heavy suitcases and the long haired pilot immediately erupted into action. A long fingered hand grasped each suitcase handle. Inez appeared to be about to tartly protest that she wasn't the weaker sex when a white-toothed smile completely disarmed her.
>
>> "Need to see 'em stowed safe away, Señorita Recillos."
>
>> Smiling, Inez relinquished the suitcases without further demur and Josiah ducked in case he was hit by a flying pig.
>
>> "Do I really need this?" asked Josiah, strapping himself into the cockpit of the chopper before eying the visored pink helmet emblazoned with angel wings either side of the name 'Lucky'.
>
>> "You an organ donor?" drawled the pilot.
>
>> "Yes, yes of course."
>
>> "In an awful hurry to donate?"
>
>> "No."
>
>> "Then wear it."
>
>> "Where's Lucky?"
>
>> "Gone."
>
>> Inez readjusted her own helmet and looked down nervously as the police helicopter left the ground and aimed for the mountains.
>
>> "How long have you been cleared to fly choppers?" asked Josiah.
>
>> "Cleared?"
>
>> Inez put a hand over her mouth and turned a fetching shade of green.
>
>> "Don't go on the worry, ma'am. I know how to fly this whirlybird seen just how they do it on TV, ain't never missed an episode of 'Airwolf'," Vin Tanner rasped reassuringly, "an' I only sorta borrowed it. If I break it the cost comes out of my salary."
>
>> *******
>
>> "Where did Ella Gaines first meet this Larabee?" asked Josiah, sitting on Sarah's office desk and munching on a chocolate muffin so delicious that he decided only an angel could have baked it.
>
>> "When he applied for the foreman's job?" hazarded Sarah.
>
>> Realizing that Josiah had made a breakthrough already she turned to her computer. "He was a Navy SEAL, so in theory he could have met her anywhere in the world. I'll be denied access to his full service record. Maybe Buck can pull a few strings."
>
>> "Look for a period when he was hospitalized for more than a few days. I think Ella has some medical knowledge. Possibly a background in nursing. She knew Larabee long enough to develop an obsession but he had good reason to forget her and leave her high and dry. Being posted fit for duty would give him an out." Josiah leaned over Sarah's shoulder, covered her eyes before he typed in a few passwords and stole a couple more muffins for himself and Vin.
>
>> Vin noted Josiah's high security clearance as he happily caught the muffin Josiah pitched to him and resumed leaning on the door frame.
>
>> "Wow, I'd hate to be around when this guy drinks a glass of water. He must have more holes in him than a sieve," gasped Sarah, as Larabee's medical record suddenly appeared on screen littered with place names. Some she recognized from the late night news, some she had never heard of and some were blanked out.
>
>> "Typical frogman," winked Vin on hearing Buck stealthily climbing up the stairs behind him, "ain't gotten the sense to duck."
>
>> "Shut up," grinned Buck as Vin dodged to avoid a sharp smack on the back of the head. "Delta Force? They're the guys Navy SEALs call when we urgently need someone to fetch coffee. I bet you spent plenty of downtime picking lead out of your dumb ass."
>
>> "My ass never took enemy fire on a mission. Snipers are highly trained sneaky bastards."
>
>> "I've seen the bullet scar, Vin," smiled Sarah, happy to stir the pot.
>
>> "I'm a Texan, got that _before_ I joined the Rangers," snickered Vin, as all three cops burst into uncontrollable laughter.
>
>> Josiah looked across at the three of them, mystified by their closeness. Human nature usually made it easy for men to get along as buddies until a beautiful woman was thrown into the mix. Then typical male posturing could make things strained between even the best of friends but in this case the two men's love and respect for Sarah canceled it out.
>
>> Sarah rolled her big blue eyes at Josiah. "Snake eaters," she shrugged by way of explanation, as Vin wrestled Buck to the floor for the last chocolate muffin. "Can you two act like grown-ups for five minutes?"
>
>> Buck tried to stuff the whole muffin into his mouth at once but nodded. Vin hauled Buck to his feet and rummaged in Sarah's desk drawer for a sticky handful of homemade cookies.
>
>> "Josiah has a request," explained Sarah, addressing Buck without looking down as she slammed the desk drawer shut just as Vin's long fingers tried to snag another cookie. "You've got enough of a sugar high for today, Tanner."
>
>> "Aw, Mom," whined Vin.
>
>> "I'd like to bring in a private consultant to look over the documents. The husband's last will and testament etc," requested Josiah.
>
>> "The budget is stretched to beyond breaking point as it is. Your fee, the RV etc. If you are sure we have a serial killer maybe the FBI?" suggested Buck.
>
>> "The guy I have in mind is where the FBI go when they are stumped. He is the best of the best but don't worry about your budget it's on me. Ezra Standish owes me a favor or several."
>
>> "Ezra P. Standish? If you're the reason he never went to prison for his part in the theft of the museum's Van Gogh almost twenty years ago then I'll say he owes you big time," frowned Buck.
>
>> "Youthful exuberance, merely to get one over on his mother, Maude," grinned Josiah. "And the painting he stole from the city museum was a worthless fake but the one the FBI recovered from his hotel room was genuine."
>
>> "A fake hanging in a city museum?" asked Buck.
>
>> "Or a real Maude Standish. Depends on your point of view I guess. At the time out of consideration for his youth I was brought in by his defense team to provide an in-depth psychiatric evaluation of the boy. Believe me, dealing with an Oedipus complex is a walk in the park when compared to unraveling the complicated relationship Ezra has with his mother. Now, thanks to Ezra, several _genuine_ paintings by Holbein, da Vinci, Rembrandt and Munch once again hang in renowned international art collections while a number of shall we say 'underground collectors' unknowingly spent their illegal drug profits on a worthless Maude Standish."
>
>> "He 'undid' all his mother's fine art thefts?" gasped Sarah.
>
>> "At my suggestion. The court agreed to release him into my custody on that basis. Ezra will work for free because the recovery fees secretly paid to him by grateful art insurers have made him a very rich man while giving him the smug satisfaction of knowing that he has outdone his mother."
>
>> "Hell, remind me not to shake hands with the guy, sounds like you wouldn't get all your fingers back," smiled Buck.
>
>> *******
>
>> "A blatant and amateurish forgery! I do so abhor amateurs."
>
>> The file made a loud slap on Sarah's desk as the door swung open. Sarah looked up to see that Vin Tanner was standing in the doorway staring open-mouthed at Ezra P. Standish and Ezra P. Standish was staring back at Vin Tanner looking equally astonished.
>
>> "Ez?"
>
>> "Ez- _ra_ ," automatically corrected Ezra, "Mr. Tanner? Mr. Vin Tanner? Snake Charmer?"
>
>> The handsome man in the slick Tom Ford suit, malachite green silk tie and vintage Turnbull and Asser shirt warmly embraced the long haired man in the stinky T-shirt and threadbare faded denim blue jeans.
>
>> "Are you still living in the wild?" asked Ezra, wrinkling his nose at the smell of bleach and honest sweat.
>
>> "Halfway through scrubbing down an old RV," laughed Vin.
>
>> "You two know each other?" Buck was more than surprised. "How come?"
>
>> "Allegedly, Ezra here was a 'civilian consultant' for an oil company out in the desert," grinned Vin. "I was assigned to keep him alive and relatively free of bullet holes."
>
>> "As you can see Mr. Tanner carried out his duties in a most exemplary fashion."
>
>> "It was a dirty job but somebody had to do it."
>
>> "The rest of the anecdote would still be classified by more than one government," smiled Ezra.
>
>> "I see," smiled Buck, warming a little to the visitor.
>
>> Ezra, while not the tallest man in the group, had a personality capable of filling any room. It was an odd juxtaposition to see him bond with Vin, a man that could enter and leave a room full of people without anyone ever knowing he had been there. But if the normally reserved Vin Tanner had greeted the newcomer with such enthusiasm then that was enough of an indication that Ezra was 'okay' as far as Buck was concerned.
>
>> "Will _is_ forged then?" asked Vin.
>
>> "What is far worse is that it was forged _badly_. The signature bears only a superficial resemblance to that of Joseph Petrie. However, to make your case watertight I interviewed the alleged witnesses to Mr. Petrie's signature. Both are indeed nurses at the hospital, as confirmed by the employment records the hospital holds but one was on maternity leave at the time and therefore out of state. The other nurse, who in fact provided both signatures, was the recipient of a considerable amount of money deposited into her bank account on the same day. When orchestrating a crime, cash is always king. This Jack Averal leaves a paper trail a mile wide."
>
>> "So Hilde will be entitled to the original bequest?" asked Sarah. "She was bequeathed a considerable sum of money in the original and as we now know genuine Will. Joseph obviously had intended Hilde to have the funds to take care of herself and her cousin. Living in comfort for the rest of their lives. Poor Hilde, Ella robbed her of so much."
>
>> "Hildegarde Petrie will now be entitled to the entire estate. Ella Gaines cannot profit from her murderous crime and I understand that the other claimant is now deceased?"
>
>> "Murdered," snapped Sarah, making Ezra jump. "Sorry, this is good work. Would you like a slice of chocolate vanilla cake?"
>
>> "A sticky slice of heaven," nudged Vin.
>
>> "Thank you, that will be most acceptable if you have a cake fork and a napkin?"
>
>> "Hell, Ezra, taste it first and I guarantee you'll be licking the plate."
>
>> "Mr. Tanner, while I have dined in some of the world's most renowned restaurants and sampled the work of the finest chefs I have never licked an item of crockery in my life. Lordy! This is damn good!"
>
>> "Told ya," said Vin proudly.
>
>> ***********
>
>> "There's only one bed?"
>
>> Sarah had not been impressed with the RV. It appeared that its last surveillance mission had been carried out by a family of raccoons, judging by the fast food wrappings spilling from the stinky bin. The stack of unwashed plates in the sink and the dirty gray, soap scum in the shower.
>
>> "You take the queen-sized bed in the bedroom and I'll gladly sleep on the pull-out sofa bed," grinned Vin. "I don't want to feel your ice cold feet on me in the night."
>
>> "Good. And I don't want to be disturbed by your naked midnight raids on the icebox."
>
>> "You'd have me suffer night starvation?"
>
>> "You betcha."
>
>> "Don't worry, Pumpkin, I'll scrub this place down until it would bring a smile to the face of my old drill sergeant."
>
>> "Pumpkin?"
>
>> "Yeah," blushed Vin. "Reckon we need to sound married. You're gonna call me . . .?"
>
>> "Long distance?"
>
>> "Hey, this is your case. I'm just trying to be a good partner."
>
>> "Hunny Bunny?"
>
>> "Thinkin' something more macho sounding. How about, Super Stud? You know something that suits me to a T."
>
>> "Hunny Bunny it is then."
>
>> "Pumpkin, I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy here."
>
>> "You said we had to act married. So that means you'll be in the doghouse half the time!"
>
>> "Prof. Sanchez said we had to portray a happy romantic relationship. He thinks it will keep you a shade safer from Ella."
>
>> "He does?"
>
>> "Ella is pathologically jealous. He thinks the hit-and-run was probably the result of Larabee innocently showing that poor girl a little kind attention. Behavior that Ella construed as affection leading to a sudden escalation of violence. Until that point Ella was quite happy for the girl to stay on at the ranch until Miss Hildegarde found them both a suitable place to live. Josiah says Ella has psychotic rages."
>
>> Sarah trembled violently. She just had to rescue Chris Larabee and get him safely away from Ella.
>
>> "Hey," drawled Vin, wrapping her comfortingly in his arms.
>
>> "Oh, Vin, why couldn't I fall in love with you instead of some man I've never met?"
>
>> "You just broke my heart. I thought you were in love with me. At least a little bit."
>
>> "Every woman is a little bit in love with you, Vin," chuckled Sarah.
>
>> "Shucks."
>
>> "I'm so tired of sleeping alone," sighed Sarah, "why can't I find a man who wants to stay with me every night for the rest of my life?"
>
>> "Buying some bedsocks for those freezing cold feet might help," advised Vin.
>
>> "What about you, Vin?"
>
>> "I'm real hot in bed," snickered Vin.
>
>> She punched him on the shoulder. "Charlotte is a married woman, Vin, you shouldn't be messing around with her."
>
>> Vin blushed with shame. "I didn't know that you knew."
>
>> "Of course I know. I just don't see the attraction."
>
>> "She needs me. She's desperate for a shoulder to cry on. Her life has been full of sadness and loss."
>
>> "She's using you," warned Sarah.
>
>> "Maybe we're using each other. We've both lost someone."
>
>> "Vin, she isn't your mother."
>
>> "You don't think I know that?"
>
>> "Call a halt to it, Vin, before it ends in tears."
>
>> "And Larabee? He's married too," pointed out Vin.
>
>> "I know," moaned Sarah, "watch my back on this one. I think I'm gonna get my heart broken."
>
>> "Hey, maybe this will cheer you up."
>
>> Vin opened a little carved wooden box, took out a ring and slipped it on her finger. Sarah looked at the heavy gold ring set with a tiny diamond chip.
>
>> "Vin!"
>
>> "You have to wear a wedding ring for the sake of our cover story and this was Mama's ring. It has been in the Tanner family for generations. Mama called it 'The Nugget' she took it off and gave it to me the day before she died and told me to always remember I was a Tanner."
>
>> "No, I can't wear it, Vin! It's meant for someone special to you."
>
>> "You are special, Sarah. You can give it back to me when you meet the man that wants to put his own ring there. The right man."
>
>> "What if you meet the right woman first?"
>
>> "I guess this proves that I already know that it has to end between Charlotte and me."
>
>> "What about that sexy blonde Harvard defense attorney?" teased Sarah, her mood lifted by Vin's sweet gesture.
>
>> "He's more your type."
>
>> "No, the one with the long legs that go right up and make an ass of themselves."
>
>> "The one that wears the tailored pinstripe suits and bends over to give the judge an eyeful of black lace if she thinks she's going to lose the case?"
>
>> "So you have noticed her?"
>
>> "She terrifies me with those double-barreled 38s."
>
>> "She'd put hairs on your chest, Vin," giggled Sarah.
>
>> "That woman would eat me alive and spit out the bones."
>
>> *******
>
>> _Down in the basement it was dark, warm and womb-like. The steady hum of expensive electronics like a heartbeat. His white skin eerily shining in the ambient light from a half dozen computer screens. An alarm tone that might remind a person of a submarine's sonar drew his attention to one particular screen. Josiah's password had been used to access one Christopher Adam Larabee's Navy medical records._
>
>> _Interesting . . ._
>
>> **Chapter 5**
>
>> The RV progressed slowly up the long driveway.
>
>> "Sugar Bear?"
>
>> Vin tried not to laugh out loud at Sarah's attempt at getting in character.
>
>> "Yeah, Pumpkin?"
>
>> Sarah wriggled in her seat clearly not happy with the skinny jeans and tiny t-shirt. "Remind me never to let Ezra pick my wardrobe again," she complained.
>
>> "Hey, you refused the denim cut-offs I voted for! You wanted to look the part. I'll tell you now, Daisy Duke, nothing you're wearing even hints at 'cop'."
>
>> "Spiked heels?"
>
>> "Do you want Larabee to put you to work in the barn with me or have the Gaines woman find you work around the house?"
>
>> "He's more likely to put me to work on the streets in this get up," complained Sarah, looking down at the strappy red shoes.
>
>> "Buck up. Mebbe Larabee has a foot fetish?"
>
>> "Vin!"
>
>> Vin steered the RV to a stop adjacent to the corral chuckling at Sarah's sharp intake of breath. Chris Larabee was stripped to the waist and wearing a pair of skintight black denims apparently at least two sizes smaller than Sarah's. Black cowboy boots and a black Stetson completed the look as he slung a saddle on a horse that made a grizzly bear look sweet-tempered.
>
>> With a big grin at Sarah's open mouth, Vin clamped his battered tan cowboy hat on his head and stepped out of the RV.
>
>> The black stallion chose that exact moment to put in a tremendous buck.
>
>> "Ya ain't thinkin' on gettin' up on that black rattler are ya, Cowboy?" drawled Vin.
>
>> Their eyes met across the top rail and both men felt a thunderbolt of recognition that left them both shaken to the core.
>
>> "Yep," replied Chris.
>
>> "Mind if we talk a little business afore ya commit suicide? Name's Tanner, Vin Tanner."
>
>> "Chris Larabee," nodded Chris.
>
>> "Truth be told me an' the little woman are lookin' fer work." Vin couldn't see but he was willing to make a substantial wager with Ezra that Sarah was grinding her teeth at the 'little woman' remark. "Ain't particular, can turn our hands to most things. We need gas money. Just a few days work would get us back on the road an' out of your hair."
>
>> "Sorry, I can get any number of casual unskilled workers around these parts. I need a seasoned ranch hand that really knows horses."
>
>> Vin shrugged.
>
>> Sarah stared aghast as she watched Vin climbing aboard the meanest four-legged devil she'd ever laid eyes on. Vin was going to get himself killed and ruin her case! She covered her eyes and waited for the paramedics to arrive.
>
>> Twenty minutes later Vin had stayed in the saddle just long enough to impress Larabee and leave Diablo's reputation as an unrideable mule untarnished. Sarah watched as instead of a regular handshake Chris and Vin gripped each others' forearms. Chris was clearly offering Vin a job. She breathed a sigh of a relief they were in!
>
>> *******
>
>> Chris Larabee strolled down to the horse barn. The big RV was parked alongside the barn hooked up to the power and water. The lingering aroma of an early breakfast wafted out of the RV via the open door. Chris had already eaten his fill at Ella's table but he felt his ravenous appetite come flooding back and not just for the food. Larabee had never in his entire life envied another man anything he might have possessed until the day before today. Vin Tanner was one helluva lucky man.
>
>> Was it only yesterday that Sarah Tanner had stepped down from the RV, the afternoon sun igniting her luxuriant halo of red hair, to steal Larabee's heart away for ever with just one shy glance?
>
>> Ella Gaines had enticed him into marriage with a masterly wrought image of their future life together. Purebred horses that would make him an internationally renowned horse-breeder and a brood of happy children playing at their feet. Larabee now knew in his heart that he had never fallen in love with Ella but he took his marriage vows as seriously as he had taken his Navy oath to the United States of America. When compared to Sarah, Ella Gaines paled into insignificance but Sarah was another man's wife and he was another woman's husband.
>
>> He knocked on the door of the RV before poking his head inside, unwilling to catch Sarah unawares. "Vin?"
>
>> "Mr. Larabee! Vin has been in the barn since sunup."
>
>> "Call me Chris, please," smiled Chris, noting that despite the early hour everything was already squared away in the RV. He liked that. His own wife expected other people to pick up after her. "Ella, my wife, would like a hand in the house if that is alright with you? Something too complicated for men to understand about the new velvet drapes not hanging properly. We'd pay you for your time of course."
>
>> Sarah blushed. "Of course. Glad to help out around the place."
>
>> "Good."
>
>> Larabee stayed standing where he was reluctant to move. Sarah felt a bead of sweat form between her breasts and slowly make its way down her body. She was sure Larabee could see it and she longed for him to follow its trail---Sarah! She shook herself. How could she have known that in the flesh he would be twice as sexy as his photograph?
>
>> Yesterday evening Vin had laughingly told her that she had actually drooled when Chris had strode over to be formally introduced to Vin Tanner's wife. Now, wearing a yellow t-shirt that left no stone unturned when it came to his well-defined chest and those damnably tight black jeans, Sarah found out that she couldn't breathe. She thought that he might suffocate her just by standing there.
>
>> It was wrong. So wrong. Vin was a great guy and Sarah was his lawfully wedded wife, Larabee repeated to himself. It was his mantra. The only thing that made him turn his back, put one foot in front of the other and leave. Sure that Sarah Tanner had never suspected a thing.
>
>> *******
>
>> Sarah was bristling with rage, muttering under her breath and throwing Vin's food onto his plate from a great height.
>
>> "Pumpkin?" Vin pulled her down into his lap. "Report," he instructed.
>
>> "That Gaines woman, she's a spoiled demanding bitch. How does Chris live with her?"
>
>> "She was as sweet as pie to me when she came up to the corral with Larabee's lunch. Made me feel real welcome."
>
>> "Lunch I made!" glared Sarah. "From the minute I stepped inside the ranch house I was treated as a dogsbody."
>
>> "Chris noticed your cooking," grinned Vin, tactfully smoothing Sarah's ruffled feathers.
>
>> "He did?"
>
>> "Said it was damn fine. The best lunch he'd ever eaten."
>
>> "Uh-uh."
>
>> "Uh-huh."
>
>> "That must be the most you've heard him say!"
>
>> "More that three words," chuckled Vin. Deciding not to tell Sarah that Ella had indeed taken all the credit for the lunch.
>
>> "She asked, no, demanded that I work in the kitchen from tomorrow."
>
>> "Well done. That's exactly what you wanted isn't it? A chance to look around."
>
>> "Guess so."
>
>> "I've had a good look around too."
>
>> "And?"
>
>> "And that's why we are going skinny-dipping in the pond before dark."
>
>> "Did you fall off a mustang and hit your head today?"
>
>> "No, this is good solid police work, honest injun."
>
>> "Read my lips, Tanner. NO."
>
>> "That's just our cover."
>
>> "Exactly. I will be staying covered."
>
>> "No one will see but just in case we're spotted we have a story ready. A romantic swim in the pond. What could be more normal for a young couple very much in love?"
>
>> "I still don't see the point in taking a swim in the pond."
>
>> "Trust me, pumpkin."
>
>> And Sarah did. If Vin wanted to swim in the pond she was sure he had a good reason. After all the sharpshooter would find skinny-dipping on Ella's land as much as a ordeal as she herself would.
>
>> *******
>
>> The track was bumpy and rutted, difficult to traverse in spiked heels but the trek was worth it, the pond was indeed a beautiful spot. Tranquil and sheltered. Out of sight of the ranch house and the barns.
>
>> Sarah fiddled nervously with the buttons on her blouse. Vin walked over and putting an arm around her stilled her hands. He hadn't laughed when she'd emerged from the RV's bedroom wearing practically all the clothes she'd brought with her.
>
>> "That's right take your time. Don't worry if anyone is watching us I'll be in and out of the water lickety-split."
>
>> "You mean you never intended me to join you in there?"
>
>> "Of course not."
>
>> "Tanner!" she hissed furiously. "Then why embarrass me like that?"
>
>> "Because you look so pretty when you blush."
>
>> Leaving her on the bank mouthing like a fish Tanner stripped down to his undercrackers and entered the water as smoothly as a seal in mere seconds.
>
>> Chris Larabee usually worked the horses all day and looked forward to a early night with an ever eager Ella. Yet for the past few evenings he had eschewed the seductive pleasures of Ella's bed to find himself taking out one of his own saddle-broke horses for a long ride. Staying on the range until Ella had hopefully fallen asleep.
>
>> Leaving his horse to find its own way across the land Chris allowed his imagination to wander free. Thoughts of Sarah Tanner immediately filled every corner of his mind. Her smile burned onto his retinas. Her musical laughter and glowing skin. He blinked rapidly it was best not to go there. Her smooth, dew soft flesh wasn't something he dared to think about. He was a married man, he reminded himself once again. For better or for worse.
>
>> Oh, Sarah, Sarah . . .
>
>> He'd never before believed in love at first sight. Who did? Lust perhaps but never love. Yet he was sure that this is what it was. Love at first sight. His body desired her but no more or less than his heart wanted her. His entire being was filled with love for her. He, Chris Larabee, a take no prisoners Navy SEAL and all round no-holds barred tough guy was ready to lose himself in her deep blue eyes. To be her puppet on a chain. Her every wish would be his command.
>
>> He wanted to give her children. To be her hero. Ready to live miles away from civilization in some pokey little shack if that was what it would take to be with her. He was sure now that he had loved her forever. She had awoken him from a deep slumber. Stirred his blood. Seeing her daily sent pulses of white-hot passion through his body. It was only now that his life had truly started to make sense. Going from monochrome to glorious technicolor in the blink of her eye.
>
>> A movement down in the valley caught his attention and he wrenched himself out of his reverie. Wild animals were rarely a threat to the stock but it was always wise to stay alert. Squinting, he realized that it was Sarah. His beloved. His---she was slowly taking off her blouse. Now she was unbuckling the leather belt on her skinny jeans. He had to leave. Leave now. While he could still breathe. Right this very minute. He couldn't, wouldn't, spy on her.
>
>> His conscience screamed, "Leave!"
>
>> His heart yelled, "Stay!"
>
>> Better still, ride down there and pull her up into the saddle. Take her away. Ride off into the sunset.
>
>> Guilt flooded his brain followed by an odd sense of relief as Tanner's sleek head bobbed up from the depths of the pond. Larabee watched as Tanner left the pond to join Sarah, shaking droplets of water from his shaggy head in her direction to make her squeal in delight.
>
>> Tanner grabbed his wife and swung her up off the ground seemingly in celebration before disappearing into the brush with her. Larabee's imagination readily painted a vivid picture of what two young and healthy lovers were doing together. With a heavy heart he reluctantly rode away.
>
>> "Vin? What---?" Most women would adore to have a wet, well-muscled, half-naked Vin Tanner draped all over them but Sarah found a pond-scented sharpshooter both soggy and uncomfortable.
>
>> "Hush. Larabee is up on the ridge watching us," explained Tanner.
>
>> "He is? How do we get back to the RV?"
>
>> "We wait for him to do the gentlemanly thing and ride away."
>
>> "We could be here all night!"
>
>> "No. He'll do the right thing."
>
>> "How do you know?" sneered Sarah, pretty sure that Chris would do the right thing too.
>
>> "I just know in my bones that he will leave us alone," asserted Tanner.
>
>> Minutes later Tanner risked taking a look. The figure high up on the ridge that Tanner's eagle eye had spotted silhouetted against the evening sky was no longer there.
>
>> "Because," continued Tanner, "he's fallen in love with you."
>
>> "Uh-uh."
>
>> "Uh-huh."
>
>> Sarah snorted and changed the subject. "What did you find in the pond?"
>
>> "One bright red Mustang car."
>
>> "Only one?" giggled Sarah. "That was good police work. What gave you the idea it might be there?"
>
>> "Looked everywhere else on the ranch big enough to hide a car. I reckon it was put in there sometime after the foreman went missing."
>
>> "How can you possibly think that?"
>
>> "His long dead body is in it."
>
>> "No?"
>
>> "Yep."
>
>> "Do you think he died in an accident?"
>
>> "Yeah, looks like he accidentally shot himself in the back of the head after he tied his hands and feet together then wrapped himself in plastic sheeting."
>
>> "Murder?"
>
>> "Murder," agreed Vin.
>
>> **CONTINUED IN PART TWO**


End file.
